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No Solace in Silence
---- It had been a few days since Lucas had brought Levina with him to Cygnus. Since they had arrived, Levina had barely said anything to him. She sat down on his couch the first night and he had rarely seen her stand since. Concern was beginning to worm its way into his stomach as he watched her hour after hour staring blankly at a wall. Occasionally, he was able to coax her into drinking water or eating some spare power bars he had in his kitchen. Lucas had not taken a job since she had arrived and had only been in contact with allies to gather the necessary materials to set Levina up with a new life. Passports, ready to be filled in with a signature and a name, money to transfer into a bank account and a plane ticket reserved to half of the countries and Ishgar. All he needed was for her to find her spark again. "Levina." He said, rounding the couch with another glass of water to join her collection. Levina was silent, continuing to stare some distance ahead of her. She hardly seemed alive, not even reacting when the water was offered to her. Lucas sat on the couch next to her. The lonesome apartment was steeped in silence. He could feel the pressure, it was as if he was underwater. Everything was so far away and much too close at once. The world was muffled but his worries were a deluge, water clogging his lungs. His voice came out strangled, the first letters of her name caught in his drowning chest, "Veena, will you please talk to me?" Levina felt something break. Her heart, or maybe, she had finally lost her mind to the irony of her situation. The man who had brought her into this was trying, still desperately trying, to keep her alive. "About what?" she answered back, voice hoarse and sharp. A smile tore across Lucas' face, breaking through his chest with the slightest bit of relief. "I wasn't expecting you to say anything." He admitted. Levina's jaw tightened, betrayal and frustration twisting her face. She looked at Lucas, a broken smile and dark eye circles looking far too familiar, and yet so wrong on his face. "What do you want?" She is so tired of this, of him. He just kept pushing life onto her, when she should be rotting away, if not here, then in a jail cell. "I want you to take care of yourself." He exhaled like it was a confession. "Why?" She was accusatory. What use did an assassin have for her? "Well, I think you're a good person who made a bad choice. That doesn't mean you deserve to go to jail." "Good people don't get others killed." Lucas hung his head forward. "I can't lift your guilt. But I don't want you to just waste away." Levina stayed quiet for a long while. She didn't understand him at all, why he would save an ex-cop was so beyond her understanding. "What do you want me to do?" "I want you to try to live again." He put his hand on her knee and when she didn't jerk away he continued, "Just start by standing up. We can go from there." Levina's hesitance to stand was evident. Still, after a moment, she did push off the couch, wobbly knees barely holding her up. Her hand shot out, steadying herself on Lucas' shoulder, taking a quick breath in to calm down. "Okay," Lucas said, the stormcloud in his stomach beginning to settle. "Uhh, I've got a bath and shower and I can order some takeout too. I figure food and a bath are as good a place to start as any." Levina thought for a moment, "A bath sounds nice. And you can order whatever you want." She was decidedly less hostile, and after he pointed her in the right direction, she headed to the bathroom. She closed and locked the door, looking around the rather lavish bathroom. Her heart skipped at the sight of the large bathtub and she quickly started running the water, the steam calming her nerves even further. She slid into the near-boiling water, a small sigh escaping her lips. While Levina was in the bathroom, Lucas felt the knots in his body begin to detangle themselves. He set himself in the kitchen, sorting through the takeout menus that frequented his counter. Pizza seemed like a safe option. He called in and placed the order, assured that it would arrive in twenty minutes. Levina soaked, dipping her chin below the water and allowing it to steal away the tension plaguing her body. She wasn't sure how long she was in, but she heard the doorbell ring and decided now was a good time as ever to get out. She took her time drying off, continuing to look around the bathroom as she did. She wraps the towel tight around her body before leaving, poking her head around the corner to where she last saw Lucas. "Clothes?" she calls, not knowing where Lucas was within the apartment. A muffled "Hold on!" was her response as Lucas carried the pizza into his kitchen. His footsteps preceded his arrival, a shock of tousled blond hair rounding into view. He smiled at her as he walked by, "Feel better? Here, I'll see if I've got anything for you to wear." Lucas led her to a modern bedroom, it was bare like the rest of his home. It didn't possess a feeling of emptiness, in fact, the simplicity of it was soothing. Just a slightly rumpled bed, dark wood furniture, and a simple knotted carpet. He waved an arm at his closet and dresser. "Whatever you find that fits is fine to wear. Just don't get freaked by the munitions rack in the closet." Levina nods, waiting until Lucas left to look through the closet. Not much fit her thinner frame, but she was able to find what she presumed was an old tee. The color had faded to a soft powder blue, and though it was the best fit, it still hung down below her hips. She found a pair of sweatpants as well, rolling up the waistband a few times to better fit her. She took a moment to look through the extraneous supplies in the closet, her hands aching to fire a gun. She closed the closet door without any further thought, knowing her days of riddling a target with holes were behind her. She padded slowly into the living room again, towel in her arms. She glanced around while she waited for Lucas. The room seemed a bit brighter, the overhead fixtures being turned on for the first time since her arrival. Her expression was lax, but certainly more alive, some color in her cheeks once again. "I'm in the kitchen!" Lucas called, "I ordered pizza. Just cheese. I didn't really know what you liked so I went basic." Levina nods, flipping her towel over her shoulder before going into the kitchen. "Thank you," she says, taking a slice. She takes a small bite, a pleasant smile curving her features. Relief was starting to flood through his body. She was eating, smiling, speaking. It was the most life he had seen from her since he met her. He bit into his pizza, eating with her. Through a mouthful of his second slice he spoke, "So, do you wanna do something after this? It's only 5:30, a bit too early to go to sleep unless you're a grandma." Levina ponders his question for a moment. "You were getting things ready for me, yes?" She makes a gesture towards the living room, where she'd seen him preparing documentation, her image on a few of the pages. "Mhm, I've done everything but photos and picking names." He raised his eyebrows, shrugging nonchalantly, "If it were up to me, I'd call you Ethel. But I doubt you want that." "Ethel?" she asks incredulously, nose scrunching up and eyebrows drawing together. "Personally, I'd prefer something like Sylvia." Lucas' face froze for a moment, glazing over. He broke into laughter, the pained expression only crossing his face for a moment before it was concealed. "I'm kidding, Ethel is my grandma's name. Come on, let's pick you something common. You want something that fits your face." Lucas raised his hand to his face, settling the web of his hand in his chin with a cheesy smile, "Don't I look like a Stephan?" Levina wasn't sure if she had imagined his expression or not, it was gone faster than she could process. His laugh disrupted her thoughts and she decided to drop it. "Yeah, and I look like a Grace," she says, rolling her eyes at him. Lucas finished chewing a piece of pizza, his eyebrows raising and mouth pinching upward with a nod. "That actually could work, you'd just need to smile more." He finished with a thousand-watt smile himself. Levina's face pinches together, "No Grace then." She continues to ponder a bit more, before coming to a conclusion. "How about Anna? Seems simple enough, yeah?" "Sure, last name?" "Anna... Davis?" she supplies, voice falling flat as she takes another bite of her pizza. As though forgetting herself, she speaks with her mouth half-full, "This is harder than it seems." Lucas nods, "That sounds good. I can finish the paperwork tonight." Levina nods, taking another bite of her pizza, chewing and swallowing before speaking this time. "Thank you, Lucas," her voice is softer, "I don't know what I could do to repay you." "It's fine, you don't have to do anything." There was a pause, as both averted their eyes back to the now diminished pizza. "You wanna watch a movie or something?" Lucas suggested weakly. "That would be nice," she said, holding her arm. "You can go pick out a movie while I clean up," he said, pointing at the cabinet in the living room. She nodded, going back into the room to look through his modest collection of titles. A certain cop drama caught her eye and she pulled it out from the neat line-up, reading the back. Lucas came back into the living room a moment later, looking over her shoulder. "That's a good one," he pipped in, and she nodded, handing over the case so he can put it in. She sat on the couch and he joined her, turning on the L.V. and beginning to play the movie. The movie was a classic, with cheesy action, a predictable plot and fantastic stunts. Lucas' eyes lit with exhilaration while he made mocking comments at the inaccuracies. Levina stayed quiet, though he took pride in each glimpse of a smile he caught. As the credits rolled, he looked at her in full. "So, I guess you can take the bedroom if you want. I'll crash on the couch." Levina's eyebrows lifted at his statement. She didn't want to burden him another night, especially if he insisted on sleeping on the couch. That being said, she probably wouldn't be accepted in any hotels, and she didn't have any extra money to be spending. "Thank you, but I'll stay on the couch. It's pretty comfortable, and I've been sleeping here anyway." "Okay, I can at least bring you a nicer blanket though." Lucas exited, retrieving the large downy comforter, "Here." "Thank you," she said, letting the blanket rest in her lap. Her gaze was lost somewhere else, and Lucas said a goodnight before going toward his bedroom. "Lucas?" she called, steeling her nerves, "Do you mind if I stay here? I mean, longer than just tonight?" Hesitance filled her voice, and she hoped whatever courage remained would help her accept a no from him. Lucas smiled, stopping before he rounded the corner, "Sure." He flicks the lights off and the sound of his footsteps receeded.